A small commission

This is a  present for a lady who loves blue. It will be travelling to the Seattle area for Christmas.

Beach Walk

This painting was inspired by a cover photo on a local visitor's guide. I tried to convey the heavy air of a cloudy day when Lake Michigan is comparatively still.

Latest Paintings

These most recent paintings are views of the property near our cabin. They will be part of an exhibit of my work at the Douglas Congregational United Church of Christ in Douglas, Michigan during the month of August.

I'm on a roll

I actually have three paintings in various stages of completion. After almost 2 years of inactivity, I really feel great about it. Gregg commissioned this one for this year's Christmas card. He took so much flak over the photo on last year's card "Flipping off Christmas".

Graham

July 4th weekend is almost here and I finally finished the portrait of my youngest grandchild who will be arriving for the weekend. We have hung it beside his bed. I hope he recognizes himself. He is the last of the grandchildren to be painted. Maybe he's the last of the grandchildren????

Painting again!

This is the finished painting I started in September '09 and have been staring at ever since. Our pastor asked me to have an exhibit at our church this summer and this was the motivation I needed.

The unfinished work is shown above for contrast.

Phase One

This is the underpainting of a new work, the view from our back porch. As I work on it I'll post various stages.

Last of the Oldies

John R.

Lillies

Orange Light - Saugatuck

Palm Hammock

Woods at Oxbow - Saugatuck

Pier Cove Michigan

The Richest Man in Belize

Winter Sleep - Fennville Michigan

We are about to head north for the summer where I have a studio at home. Hopefully this will mean some new paintings will be forthcoming. In the meantime, this is the last bunch of my old favorites.

Other Favorites

Lilacs by Lake Michigan

Lakeshore Drive - Douglas

Iris

Hidden Pond - Douglas

More Oldies

Edge of the Desert - Palm Springs

Dune Grass - Lake Michigan

Dieulefit, Provence, France

Corner of the Garden - Saugatuck

Canyon of the Colorado

A few more of my favorites

Old Favorites

Ripening Tomatos

Summer Shadows

The Derelict - Provincetown

Trail up the Dunes - Saugatuck

The Approaching Storm - Lake Michigan

A friend asked to see some of my favorite paintings. These date from my earliest work. From time to time I'll put more up (when I have nothing new to say or show).

Bowl of Eggs

Continuing the tradition of the offbeat still life, Kirk presented us with this bowl of eggs for our last two studio meetings. Of course the eggs got mixed up between classes, so we were sort of flying blind last night. The painting measures 16x20.

Purple Orchids

I completed this little painting last night. It utilizes a wrap-around canvas and is painted on the sides so it does not require a frame. It is 10 inches square.

Translation, please.

Gregg's Dad Mike bought this little carved box in Algeria during World War II. We would love to know what the inscription on the cover says. If any of my readers reads or knows some one who reads Arabic, please let us know.

Latest from drawing class

The theme of last weeks class was "body parts" I did not choose the parts.

A quick sketch

I only had twenty minutes to do this drawing. It came out better than one I worked on for an hour. Go figure.

More hands

Another go in class at drawing hands.

Interesting Faces

It is more enjoyable to draw a face with "character", rather than a pretty one

Hidden Dunes

Our Michigan cabin is buried under 40 inches of snow. Our friends Chet and Bill will take some photos and email them to me in Florida. I'll do a companion piece to this one I just finished of the place just before the snow season started. We are not sorry we didn't go north for Christmas.

Christmas Wishes

My Christmas wish is that our brilliant new President will bring solutions to our financial crisis, an end to this endless war in Iraq and full equality to all.

Another Still Life

Continuing his tradition of unusual subjects, Kirk gave us this asian assemblage to paint last week. Actually I'm more pleased with this than the prior effort.

Never Shown Before

I did this painting at the Las Olas Art Center a couple of years ago. It hangs in the foyer of our apartment. It is an imaginary view of The Everglades.

An Unusual Still life

OK so a pomegranate, a toy giraffe and a green vase is a weird choice for a still life, but it is what was offered in a class at Kirk's studio the past two weeks. I'm not unhappy with the result.

Some Favorite Paintings

I don't have any new work to post today, so I'm adding a few of my favorites from my personal collection.

Getting in the groove

This was my second week back in class at Kirk Nicklas Studio. This drawing is the first one I am almost satisfied with. Now if I could get the whole figure on the page---.